Crimper mechanism



Oct. 191943. '.J. F. HALsTEAD 2,331,906 y CRIMPER MECHANISM Filed Feb. 20, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 19, 1943. J. F. HALSTEAD 2,331,903

cRIMPER MEcHANIsM Filed Feb. 2o, 1942 4 sheets-sheet 2 FIG.

INVENTOR. JOHN F. HALSTEAD Pff-.mmm I I Oct.- 19, 1943. J. F. HALsTEAD CRIMPER MECHANISM Filed Feb. 20, 1942 4 Sheets-.Sheet 3 FIGB.

' INVENTOR. J O H N F oct. 19, 1943..l J, E HALSTEAD 2,331,906

CRIMPER MEcHANIsM Filed Feb. 2o, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet A4y FIGA INVENTOR JOHN F. HALSTEAD f,- I/.l TTORNEY kPatented Oct. 19, 1943 CRIMPER MECHANLSM John F. Halstead, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to.

International Cigar Machinery Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application February 20, 1942, Serial No. 431,613

7 Claims.

This invention relates to cigar'makng machines and more particularly to improvements in the cigar shaping mechanism of a cigar machine.

. A great deal of force is exerted by a crimper on a cigar bunch in order to impart thereto the shape which the nished cigar is to have. Various structures, such for example as that shown in Halstead 1,729,440 and Bronander 1,578,579, have heretofore been devisedcapable of exerting the prescribed amount of force. In most cases it was found that the shaft supporting the lower Ajaw was excessively worn andthe strain placed on this shaft in many cases causes it to be broken off in the crimping operation, especially when two cigar bunches happen accidentally to be in the crimper at the same time. In designing modern crimping devices it is desirableto have the jaws close and open along different paths of travel to prevent tearing a cigar bunch, as provided for in applicants former patent heretofore mentioned.

It is an object of applicants inventionv to provide a crimper which will have the above mentioned desirable opening and closing movements and which will also materially reduce undesirable wear upon the crimper operating members.

Another object is to provide an improved crimper which will be of simplified construction and will have adequate protection against foreign matter entering its operating mechanism.

Another object is to provide asimple and compact crimper which will avoid undesirable twisting stresses upon the crimper operating members.

A further object is to provide an improved crimper wherein the physical force lines bringing the crimper jaws together into-crimping relation come from diametrically opposed directions and lie in a plane passing through the center of a cigar bunch undergoing crimping.

A further object is to provide an improved crimper wherein the crimping jaws will be locked during the crimping operation and which will avoid placing undesirable stress upon the actuating cam rollers and cam tracks.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as the description of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, like characters of reference have been applied to corresponding parts throughout'the several views which make up the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side'view, partly in section, of applicants crimping mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a front View of the crimper. f y

Fig. 3 is a top view of the crimper.

Fig. 4 shows the cam mechanism for operating the crimper.

Referring to the drawings, Figs. l. and 2,`a base Ill, having upright side supports II and a center boss I2, is secured to the frame of a conventional cigar machine by means of suitable clamping bolts I3. A shaft I4 is fixedly secured in the boss I2 by means of a tapered pin I5. A sliding casting I6 having bushings I1 is slidably mounted upon the shaft I4'and supports the lower crimping jaws I8. A sleeve I9 is xedly mounted on the sliding casting I6 by means ofscrews 20. The sleeve I9 is so constructed that it covers the shaft I4 at al1 times and travels onthe outside of the p boss I2 so that foreign matter is always prevented from coming in contact with the shaft I4,l thereby reducing the amount of wear upon one of the main parts of the crimper mechanism. Heretofore no satisfactory and practical way of overcoming this difficulty has been prpvided in any of the crimpers employed on moderncigar machines. A small hole 2| is formed in the upper part of the casting which communicates with a hole in the upper bushing I'I to permit the entrance and expulsion of air as the casting I6 slides up 'and down on-the shaft I4. A cover plate 22 is provided for keeping foreign matter out of the inside of the castingV I6 and away from the shaft I4.

A link 23 is connected to a lug 24, which forms 1 part of casting I6, by means of an eccentric pin 25. A clamp screw 26 is provided at the upper end of link 23 to xedly secure the same to the eccentric pin 25. Shaft 2l is movably mounted in the side wall supports II. A bracket 2ans xedly secured to shaft 2l' by means of taper pins 29 and has a swinging movement. The upper crimping jaws aresecured to bracket 23 by means of conventional clamp screws 3l and 32. The clamp screw 3i is capable of being moved to the right and to the leftin slot 56 so that the crimping jaw maybe adjusted to accommodate' different length cigar bunches. The` trimming knives 43 and44 hereinafter described are adjustably secured by means of arms v62-14 to shaft 45 so that they can be moved in and out to accommodate themselves to the adjustment of the crimper jaws. l Y Link 33 is movably mounted upon shaft, 2l and is connected to the lower end of link 23 by means of a pin 34 so as to form a toggle therewith and impart a raising and lowering movement to the sliding casting I6. This toggle arrangement takes up all of the stress during the crimping operation and thereby avoids wearing out the actuating cam rollers and their corresponding cam tracks. The actuating rod 35 having a forked end 36 is connected to an arm 31 of link 33, and through said arm actuates the toggle mechanism 'for raisingl and lowering the sliding casting I6. By turning the eccentric 25 it is pcssible to adjust the distance the sliding casting I6 is raised and lowered and in this way control the amount of squeeze about the cigar bunch ends. v

A second actuating rod 38 having a forked end 39 is connected to an arm 4I)` formed on bracket 28 and imparts swinging movement to said bracket. An extension 4I of arm 3l supporting an adjustable screw 42 serves to impart actuating movement to a pair of knives 43 and 44. The knives 43 and 44 by .means of arms B52-IB are adjustably secured .to Aa shaft 45 by clamp screws 65, said shaft 45 being freely mounted in bracket 28. A collar 46 is xedly mounted upon shaft 45-by means of .a clamp. screw `4'I and has a projecting lug 48. A coil spring 49 is positioned between lug 4.8 and the upper part l! of bracket 28and constantly exerts an .outward push upon lug 48.l yThe sleeve or collar 46 carries `a second .lug .B5 (Fig. l) vwhich vlimits the outward movementofknives 43 andv44- by coming into yengagement with the lower portion 51 (Fig. l) of bracket 2B. The screw 42acts against lug 43 toimpart cutting movement to knives 43 and 44 when -tne crimping jaws are in closed position so as to cut ofi theends of a cigar bunch protruding Abeyond the closed crimping jaws.

. The operation oi this device may be briefly described. as follows.:

u When the actuating rods 35 and 38 are in their lowerrmost position, crimping jaws i8 and .30 will be separated from one another. Conventional carrying fingers (which may be similar to those shown in Clausen re-issue Patent 20,441) will deliver an uncrimped cigar bunch between the ,crimpingjaws IB and 3G. then slowly move upward until the adjustable screwfi, carried by an arm 52 of bracket 28, strikes against an abutment`53 forming part of the crimper base I. In the meantime, the castving by means of actuating rod 35 and toggle mechanism 23 and 33, will be raised upward to grip and crimp the cigar bunch held between said crimping jaws.

As crimping jaws I8 and 35 engage with the cigar bunch, the conventional cigar bunch carrying fingers are gradually withdrawn fromengagement with the cigar bunch. The center of pin 34 (Fig. l) is pushed in the direction of sliding casting I6 until link 23 strikes againstI stop pin It Will be V.mediating ma 3a win noted that the center of pins 25 and 21 is directly in line with the center 55 of the crimped cigar bunch. This direct alignment eliminates torque and undesirable stresses which would otherwise be placed upon shaft I4 during the crimping op- When the crimping jaws I8 and 30 are approaching their closed crimping position, which of course will occur before link 23 has actually engaged with pin 54, the further upward movement of connecting rod 35 will cause screw 42 to engage with lug 48 and actuate cutting knives 43 and 44 to cut oil the ends of the cigar bunch which protrude outside of the closed crimping jaws, thereby completing the crimping of the cigar bunch.

At the completion of the crimping operation, a pair of conventional bunch carrying fingers (which may be similar to those shown in U. S. Patent 1,786,608) will descend between the crimpingr jaws andgrip the cigar bunch in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. Ac-

tuating rod 35 then commences to descend and knives 43 and 44 graduallyv withdraw due to the outward pressing action of coil spring 49. As rod 35 continues its descent, silding casting I6 is withdrawn downward. Suitable opening and closing movements (similar to those shown in IU. S. Patent 1,729,440) is imparted to the crimping jaws so as to avoid tearing a cigar bunch, through connecting rods 35 and 38.

Conventional cam mechanism,(which is similar in some respects to that shown in U,` S. Patent 1,442,200) is provided for operating the crimper jaws (Fig. ll). VA pair of lever arms 58 and 53 are fulcrumed on shaft 60 and carry cam rollers 6I and 62 respectively. Cam rollers 6I and 62 travel in cam tracks 63 and 64 respectively, which are formed on opposite sides of a cam disk 5l. Actuating rods 35 land 38 are pivotaliy connected to the ends of lever arms 58 and 59 respectively. Cam disk 5l is mounted on a shaft E3 which is driven by suitable means from the main shaft of the cigar machine.

The invention above described may be varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many concrete embodiments of the same. The invention therefore is not to be restricted to the precise details yof the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is:

l. A cigar bunch shaper for a cigar machine comprising, a pair of shaping members, a xed vertical shaft, a support slidably mounted on said shaft for supporting one of said members, a swinging mount for the other of said members, means for actuating said swinging mount, toggle means including an` arm having a stationary pivot, an arm having a pivot connecting it to said support, a pin connecting said arms, the axes of said pivots being arranged in a single plane passing through the center of the cigar bunch undergoing shaping ior imparting reciprocatory movement to said sliding support in timed relationship with said swinging mount to bring said shaping members into and out of shaping relationship.

2. A cigar bunch shaping device for a cigar machine comprising, a pair of coacting shaping members adapted to shape individual cigar bunches, a fixed support, means -swingably con'- nected to said support for supporting one of said shaping members, a sliding support for the other of said members, a toggle connected to said fixed support and to said sliding support, and means for actuating said toggle and said swinging support to bring said shaping members into and out of bunch shaping relationship, said toggle including an arm pivotally connected to said fixed support, an arm pivotally connected tosaid sliding support and a pin connecting said arms, the pivotal connections of said arms with said supports being arranged in a single plane passing through the center of the bunch being shaped.

3. A cigar bunch shaping device for a cigar machine comprising, a base; a shaft co-nnected to said base; a shaping member connected to said shaft for swinging movement along a predetermined path of travel; a fixed upright member associated with said base; a second shaping member slidably mounted on said upright member; a toggle connected to said second shaping member by a pin and to said shaft for imparting raising and lowering movement to said second shaping member, said pin and shaft being so constructed and arranged that a straight line passing across their longitudinal centers would pass across substantially the longitudinal center of a cigar undergoing crimping; and means for imparting swinging movement to said rst named shaping member to bring it into and out of shaping relationship with said second shaping inember to shape cigar bunches.

4. An improved cigar bunch shaper comprising, a base, an upright associated with said base, a casting slidably mounted on said upright, crimper jaws mounted on said sliding casting, a bracket swingably mounted on said base, another set of crimper jaws mounted on said bracket adapted and arranged to coact with said first named set of crimping jaws to shape cigar bunches, a toggle arrangement having the same fulcrum at one end as said bracket for lowering and raising said sliding casting, and actuating mechanism for said bracket and casting constructed and arranged to swing said bracket and slide said casting into and out of bunch shaping relationship.

5. A bunch shaper for a cigar machine comprising, a base, a shaft mounted in said base, a bracket swingably mounted on said shaft, bunch shaping members connected to said bracket, a reciprocating support associated with said base, a second set of bunch shaping members connected to said reciprocating support, said second set of shaping members being adapted and arranged to coact with the bunch shaping members on said bracket to shape cigar bunches, a lug formed on said reciprocatory support, a pair of toggle levers connected to said lug and said shaft for imparting lowering and raising movement to said reciprocatory member to shape cigar bunches, said lug connection and shaft being so constructed and arranged as to be in line with each other and a cigar bunch undergoing shaping.

6. A cigar machine crimping device comprising, a shaft; a swinging bracket carrying a set of crimper jaws mounted on said shaft; a reciprocating member carrying another set of crimper jaws, constructed and arranged to coact with the crimping jaws mounted on said bracket to shape cigar bunches; a knee-action toggle having one lever arm connected to said shaft and ano-ther lever arm connected to said reciprocating member for actuating said reciprocatory member; means for swinging said bracket; and means for actuating the knee ofv said toggle to cause the crimper jaws on said reciprocating member to coact with the jaws on said bracket to crimp cigar bunches, said toggle being constructed and arranged to be self locking when placed in crimping position by said knee actuating means.

7. In a cigar machine, the combination in a crimping device for shaping the ends only of a cigar bunch, of a rectilinearly movable member movable in a vertical direction, a crimping jaw mounted on said rectilinearly movable member, a swingable member, a crimping jaw carried by said swingable member, said swingable member and said rectilinearly movable member being arranged to move the jaws supported thereon into crimping relationship upon the end of a cigar bunch, and means for applying a force to said rectilinearly movable member to a portion of said member located in the vertical plane normally occupied by the longitudinal axis of the cigar bunch being crimped, said force having its major component disposed in said plane.

JOHN F. HALSTEAD. 

